The National Assembly's special committee investigating the ballot shortage during the June 3 local elections will hold its first hearing today (July 14), summoning key witnesses including Acting National Election Commission (NEC) Chairperson Wi Chul-hwan and former NEC Chairperson Roh Tae-ak to begin a full-scale investigation into the incident.

Starting at 10 a.m. today, the special committee will hold the first hearing, calling approximately 90 witnesses and 15 reference witnesses, including current and former NEC members such as Acting Chairperson Wi and former Chairperson Roh, with the exception of non-standing member Cho Sung-dae.

It is reported that Cho was excluded from the witness list due to a valid reason.

As decided during the on-site inspection held at the NEC in Gwacheon, Gyeonggi Province, on July 7, the witness list includes former Secretary-General Park Chan-jin and former Deputy Secretary-General Song Bong-seop, who were involved in the 2023 hiring irregularities scandal.

Also included are former NEC standing members Kim Pil-gon, Kim Chang-bo, Lee Seung-taek, and Jung Eun-sook, in relation to the ballot counting error in Guro-gu, Seoul, during the 8th local elections in 2022. Two working-level officials from the Ministry of the Interior and Safety and one official from the Ministry of National Defense regarding the double-voting incident involving military absentee ballots were also selected as witnesses.

Acting Commissioner General of the Korean National Police Agency Yoo Jae-sung and on-site police officers were also summoned as witnesses regarding the clashes with protesters during the transport of ballot boxes from the Jamsil Olympic Park Handball Gymnasium.

Kim Tae-hoon, head of the joint prosecution-police investigation team, and representatives of companies that held private contracts with the NEC are also among those requested to appear as witnesses.

However, the appointment of Minister of the Interior and Safety Yoon Ho-jung and Minister of National Defense Ahn Kyu-back as witnesses was blocked due to opposition from the Democratic Party, following disagreements between the ruling and opposition parties.

The special committee plans to question current and former central and Seoul election commission members, who are expected to attend as key witnesses, to review the reporting situation on the day of the incident and hold them accountable for the NEC's inadequate response and various allegations surrounding the event.

(Photo: Yonhap News)